Xbox issues open letter in response to compromised accounts

In the wake of attacks on some Xbox Live accounts and long wait times for account recoveries, the company has issued an open letter to assure users it is working to resolve these problems quickly.

Xbox Live US general manager, Alex Garden, wrote in a letter that while there was no evidence of a breach in the service, this was of “little comfort” to members who had been compromised.

“Recovering compromised accounts in a timely manner is a priority and an area where we’ve made, and will continue to make, improvements,” he wrote. “We have invested more resources in our account recovery process and as a result, for most new fraud cases we are now able to investigate and return accounts within three days.”

For users who have added strong proof of identities to their accounts, this may take as little as 24 hours, according to Garden. “We still have a few cases that are taking longer to fully recover and some refunds are still being processed, but we’re making great strides,” he wrote.

According to Garden, the company did “not take lightly” the frustrations it had heard from loyal Xbox Live members and remained committed to resolving customers’ individual and collective concerns.

Garden stated in his letter that Xbox has a number of security measures in place including password-attempt throttling and account lockout for multiple failed attempts.

However, Garden also pointed out that personal account security starts with setting strong passwords and routinely changing them as well as reducing the amount of personal information shared online. “Be mindful of where you login to online services, even when not using Xbox Live, and use single-use codes especially when you’re signing in from a PC that isn’t your own,” he wrote.

Got a security tip-off? Contact Hamish Barwick at hamish_barwick at idg.com.au

Follow Hamish Barwick on Twitter: @HamishBarwick

Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU

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